Archive for January, 2004

Plans to give Baghdad more electrical power advance with generator’s arrival

A generator originally bought with UN Oil-for-Food money and found stashed in an unnamed neighboring country has arrived in Baghdad. When up and running, the 300-ton monster will increase electricity for Baghdad by half an hour per day.

Most Iraqis in Baghdad each day have about 12 hours of power coming and going in three-hour cycles. Essential services, such as police stations and hospitals, are given continual power.

With some generators down for maintenance, the city currently draws about 4,000 megawatts. But by June, engineers hope to have 6,000 megawatts to power Baghdad, increasing electricity to 16 hours per day.

16 hours of electricity per day in the Iraqi summer heat is NOT going to feel good to Baghdad residents or look good to American voters.

Also, why haven’t we heard more about what happened to all that Oil For Food money?

I’ve noticed on this site and other MT-powered sites that sometimes selecting text doesn’t work correctly. It grabs large chunks instead of just what you want. And it only happens on certain parts of the page. A reader complained about it before, but I wasn’t able to figure it out.

Today I stumbled upon what many others have known all along. As long as you are trying to select text where there is sidebar to the left, everything works just fine. It’s when you try to select text below the bottom of the sidebar that MT’s power works for evil instead of good. I’m running a slightly modified standard template, and I’ve noticed similar text-selection problems on other blogs, so I think it came with MT’s templates.

I don’t know how to fix it, but a workaround would be to go to the post you want to rip off quote on either the monthly archive page (accessible on the sidebar), on the category archive page (by clicking on the category tag at the bottom of the post), or on the post’s individual archive page (by clicking on the timestamp at the bottom of the post). My archives don’t have a sidebar so you can select away.

New American Heavy Bomber (1/29/04 entry)

Break out the champagne! The Strategy Page reports that the USAF is planning tests for the heavy bomber to replace the aging B-52, as well as the B-1.

Testing will begin in 2037.

(Maybe break out some ice along with the champagne.)

Our current fleet is aging faster than expected due to heavy use. Strategy Page mentions that some feel that UAVs or commercial aircraft could fill the gap. With the advent of the JDAM GPS-guided bomb, why not develop a relatively low-cost high-altitude JDAM carrier out of the 767 or a similar commercial plane? I mention the 767 because we’re already going to modify it for use as an overpriced tanker aircraft.

Get a jumbo jet loaded with fuel and an assortment of JDAMs on rotary launchers, circle eight miles above, and wait for someone to call in a mission. The weapons officer could put down his cup of coffee, punch in the coordinates, and press the button for the appropriate bomb. Orbiting so high would allow a large range of territory to be hit at a moment’s notice. Some call this idea the B-747. I think it’s worth a serious look.

At least we could scrape by until 2037.

Taken this past Sunday. My hands were almost numb by the time I snapped a few shots. Here are a couple more: Beach Rules and Overview.

I’ve received a lot of traffic to the Flags of the unilateral power post. Here’s a smaller version. Click. Copy. Share.

Whale explodes in Taiwanese city

A 17m sperm whale, which died after washing up on a beach in Taiwan, exploded after gasses built up inside the carcass.

Several parked cars and pedestrians got covered in blood when it exploded.

Residents and shop owners wore masks while trying to clean up the spilt blood and entrails.

This is the sort of thing, that if you saw it in a movie, you’d dismiss as the stupidest thing you’d ever seen. (hat tip to Colorado Conservative)

Kerry wins big in New Hampshire

Phil Carter has some interesting thoughts on Kerry’s big win last night, especially on the Kerry vs. Clark issue:

I believe that Wes Clark essentially went down in flames when he belittled Kerry on CNN’s Larry King Live. In his conversation with Sen. Bob Dole on that program, Clark denigrated Kerry’s service as a junior officer, saying that he was a general and that this ought to count for more. Fair enough, there is a distinction between lieutenants and generals. But that’s not a favorable distinction for most veterans, who looked upwards with disdain at their generals, while they often got to know their lieutenants and captains on much more favorable terms. Clark painted himself as an elitist with this comment to the veteran community whose support he needed so badly. It doesn’t surprise me that large chunks of that group went over to the Kerry campaign.

I wrote about this here and happen to agree with Mr. Carter. I’m just saying.

Troops in Iraq

KTLA commented in my post with the nifty flags that it would be interesting to see exactly what contribution all of the nations who have committed troops to Iraq are making.

Via Blackfive – The Paratrooper of Love I give you the list. Click the link at the top for the info. It’s a November post based on an AP report at the time, but as the ol’ blogosphere sniffed out inaccuracies it’s been updated over time. Good stuff.

KTLA notes

I suspect a few are probably along for the ride, though they’re still on the correct side of the line.

In this, he’s completely correct. First of all, we’ve used our position and influence on world affairs to convince some folks to help out. Many people have a problem with this, and I agree that it can be a problem, if done by simply bullying lesser nations into cooperating. I don’t really think that’s what we’ve done, although many will claim that it is.

Also, some of the nations on the list have made very small contributions.

Kazakhstan — 27 troops.

Not more than a token detachment, and not even a drop in the bucket. Still, the nations that make such small contributions don’t have militaries the size of the US or the UK, and their offerings are a concrete statement about where they stand on things.

UPDATE: From yesterday’s Strategy Page:

So far, there have been 610 coalition troops killed in combat. This includes 518 Americans, 56 Britons, 17 Italians, eight Spaniards, five Bulgarians, two Poles, two Thais, one Dane, and one Ukrainian.

For the nations whose contributions are small, every casualty is even that much more significant.

NHL Standings based on Points Per Game

My Avs are hot hot hot right now. Although I’m fully expecting them to look strong through the end of the regular season, I’m skeptical of goalie David Aebischer’s ability to hold up in the playoffs. The NHL post-season may as well be a different sport. We’ll see.

Also, I see that the number of games played by each team seems to be evening out a bit.
Read the rest of this entry »

3-year-old survives 5 days alone

A three-year-old girl survived for five days after a car accident that killed her mother by eating crackers.

Authorities said Angel’s 44-year-old mother, Patricia Marie Emery-Wade, died in the wreck, which apparently happened the afternoon of Jan. 21 on U.S. 60 in the east-central part of the state. Officials were trying to determine whether rain or snow had been a factor.

The woman’s car hit a tree about 40 feet off the highway and 20 feet down an embankment, making it nearly impossible to see from the roadway.

They found the little girl cuddled next to her mother.

Little kids are amazing. They are capable of incredible feats of physical, mental, and emotional strength given their small size and incompleteness.

I feel terribly for this little girl, and for the mother who will never get to see the woman that her child, who is obviously strong beyond reasoning, will grow into.

And while this event is a testament to the indomitable spirit of Man, similar news can highlight the idiocy of adults who should know better.